


Space-Time Love

by hudsteith



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Bi Mike Wheeler, Bullying, Byeler - Freeform, Gay Will Byers, M/M, Some Lumax, byler
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-27
Updated: 2018-03-04
Packaged: 2019-03-24 22:23:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,929
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13820679
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hudsteith/pseuds/hudsteith
Summary: Will thought that love his best friend was torturing enough, but when he asked the Universe to change that, he couldn't preview what was waiting for him and his friends.Look what you wish for, Will Byers. Maybe it comes true.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> That was an idea that came out some months ago, but I'm writing it slowly, because i'm really in love with this project and I want to you guys love it as well :)

Will was in front of the mirror, and he stammered something. The boy was still shaking, but he tried to control himself, because when the time comes he couldn't shake or stammer. No, he wasn't training to ask a girl to dance in the Snow Ball. He was training to say to his best friend Mike Wheeler he likes him. And yes, maybe he hadn't chosen the best day to make this speech, but he couldn't wait to another disaster happen. Every Will Byers' cell knew that hadn't more reasons and excuses to delay this moment, or he'd live in this eternal and painful looping.

  
When Will was in the Upside Down, he tried to keep himself lucid and strong thinking about his mother playing with him in Castle Byers, or about him listening to music with his brother Jonathan, or about him playing D&D with Dustin, Lucas and Mike. Will also thought about all the moments he had with his best friend, since they met each other till when he said goodbye to Mike in that night he met up the monster in the middle of the road. When the time went by and nobody was rescuing him to that ugly and dark place, Will got himself thinking more and more about how Mike protected him his whole life, from the bullies from school and from other dangers because he was the short one of the party. Will asked to see Mike one more time. His brain wanted to process Mike as a brotherly figure, like Jonathan, but there was a voice inside him. A voice that said something pretty different.

  
When the nightmare was over and he woke up in the hospital, he knew that he had the chance to see Mike and he had the intention to say how much he miss him. Jonathan was calling him, and Will wanted to ignore the strength of his heartbeats, and the anxiety that every second he had when he didn’t see his brother coming back with Mike to his room. Had the time stopped? It looked like, but the clock was still moving, and Mike wasn't coming to see him, with a warm smile on his lips. And when Mike showed up, he ran to him, as Lucas and Dustin did; Will wanted to express how much he missed that hug, but not in front of everyone, of course, or they wouldn’t understand. Will knew he had to give attention to the news the boys were giving to him, but he only could see Mike smiling at him, and he didn't want this smile to ever be gone.

  
The boys started to full him with news about what happened when he was out: his funeral, their adventures, a girl named Eleven (like the number) and then Will noticed. Mike got really sad when talked about her. Will had already seen that look; When Mike was eight and had a dog and the dog ran away. After suspended the pursuit, Mike had a similar look, but this one he was wearing was deeper. And Will's heart hurt, like he never felt. But he ignored, instead.

  
The days passed by and Will was noticing how much Eleven was important for Mike. Dustin and Lucas told him about the little thing they had in the week Will was missing, how they found her when they were looking him by themselves and even about putting a wig on her when she was in the school with them. One time, after a long D&D game, Will was going up the stairs when he heard Mike turn his supercoom on and talk:

  
"Eleven, it's me, Mike." he said. "It's 1-6-4 day, and i'm still waiting. We ended a D&D play right now, when you came back i'll teach you to play." Mike's voice stopped. He was hurt. Will knew it. "Give me a sign, I truly swear i won't tell anyone. I just need to know that you are alive."

  
And Mike stayed still, and Will knew he was looking to everywhere, waiting to something move or anything. And Will only heard he beating on a pillow. It was like a physical pain to Will watch Mike that way, so devastated with the mysterious girl's disappearance. When Will closed his eyes, he could see Eleven's figure with him in the Upside Down, holding his hand when he was too close to give up, but never could see her whole face. Will never would ask anything outloud, but he questioned himself how Mike, who is so hard to trust people, could fall in love for a girl so fast and so strongly. Will thought he had to be a good friend and keep some comments to himself.

  
Will's episodes of seeing Upside Down again was keeping more recurrent when his disappearance anniversary was getting closer, and he didn't know from who ask help, because his mother would freak out if he looked in a strange way, like she was carrying a porcelain toy, easily breakable, and even his friends watched out him like he could have a panic attack in any moment. And Will had all the right to panic, because all this overprotection, but he wouldn't do this, even that his mother, Jonathan, Lucas, and Dustin deserved.

  
Not Mike. Mike... _understood_ him, accepted him the way he was. Will felt like he could give his life to Mike and it would be in good hands. Mike could take care of him, heal his injuries...he could _save_ him, whatever it'd be. If Will had his eyes closed and had to be guided only by Mike's voice, he wouldn’t question, he'd go with no second thoughts. Will'd accept what that voice told him. And that made the pain on his heart get bigger, because there's something that started to install on Will's body more powerful than a monster from another dimension: Will had doubts about himself. Doubts that he never needed or cared to have, because _this_ shouldn't care for him _now_ , but know that a girl showed up in his childhood best friend's life made him think of things he shouldn't think, things he expected to think when he was sixteen years old, not years before that.

  
Even when the Mind Flyer was taking away his memory, making him change his behavior, creating lies and transforming his green eyes to black, Will couldn’t forget who was Mike, of what he meant to him. He knew that was just a reminding of another internal war he was living, so conflicting and tiring as that one he has with the monster. Someone asked to Will who was that, pointing to his friend, and without hesitating, he answered:

  
“That's my friend. Mike.” and he saw a shy smile of him. Yeah, he couldn't forget him.

  
Mind Flyer finally took all his body, even that he screamed to be saved. He wasn't heard, becoming just a viewer to that horror that he and he loved ones were passing through. The parasite liked the soldier, indirectly killed Bob and tried to kill everyone who Will cared about. “It's my fault, it's my fault,” Will screamed inside of himself. And when the plan to save them and Will came, he was surprised. Will used Morse Code to help them, tricking the monster, that was time for the attack, and Will deserved a victory, for once.

  
To keep Will present, his mother and Jonathan told him his history, meanwhile Will, like a spy, was passing the code, Hooper taking note and repassing to the other without the monster notice. When Will heard Mike's history, about when they met, he fought internally against the monster. He wanted to have the power of his legs, and get close to Mike. That was their moment, and hearing Mike saying that asking Will to being his friend was the best thing he ever done gave Will strength to fight. He didn't know what he wanted from Mike, but he didn't want to get apart of him ever again.

  
Will's “exorcise” was painful, all his body and his soul was in flames, and in that moment parasite and host was feeling the same pain, but Will had to be strong, getting back his body, his truly belonging. His last scream of pain was enough to the Mind Flyer got away from his body. He could feel the heaviness he felt going away and he feeling his bloody passing on his veins, every piece of his body meeting each other again. His eyes got back to their normal colour, but his body was weak and sweating. He received a hug from his family, and saw Nancy standing close to him, and he thought she wasn't the Wheeler family member he wanted to see, even he know she was there because of Jonathan.

  
After that, his friends visited daily (Max and Eleven being part of the party now), and see Mike all day just gave him sure about he felt. He knew what that meant, but was a feeling too big to ignore. Even he knowing that he hadn't chances while Eleven was around. Will saw the way Mike was with her, always holding her hand and with a passionate look. It was like the year they were apart hadn't any meaning, and Will saw himself smiling to them even when what he wanted the most was run far away to them. The feeling that shining of those two was damn suffocating to the boy, that he couldn't be the friend he thought he was to Mike; he knew he should give full support and be happy to his happiness, but the sadness was too strong to be maskared.

  
Will know that was a suicide mission, but he already knew this since the beginning. He memorized the words to say to Mike when he was going to the Ball. Deep down in his heart he expected he could be surprised, and Mike'd say he also liked him and everything would be fine. In his more optimistic dreams, Mike said he liked Elevem and him as well, but he chose him, and made another beautiful speech about their long-time friendship and how all this transformed in another feeling, so strong and beautiful as that one. Yeah, Will was a masochist boy.

  
The Ball went so fast, and Will only remembered some flashes. Dustin's weird hair. Lucas stammering to ask Max to dance. A tall girl asked him to dance. El coming and Mike opening his mouth seeing her. El and Mike dancing. El and Mike kissing in the middle of the dance floor. El and Mike smiling to each other, happy. The song's over and Will even waited to the girl asked if he wanted to dance again, and he was running to the gym door. He was feeling too nauseous to make an excuse to his friends, he'd solve this later. Will needed, in the moment, to put a great distance between him and the most passionate couple of Hawkins. His mother was outside of the school, smoking a cigarette with Hopper.

  
“Mom, can we go home now, please?” asked Will, trying to not look miserable. “I’m tired.”

  
“Of course, Will.” Said Joyce, with a smile. “Bye, Hopper.”

  
When they came home, Will went straight to his bedrrom, to finally cry. Elenfelt his body hurt, the feeling of sadness and loneliness coming through his veins and making him lose the sensibility of his legs. His throat hurt since he left the gym, and Will passed his hands around it, forcing himself to not scream and warn his mom that was something wrong. But there was something wrong, since the start, but Will was too fool to assume and accept. _He_ was the “something wrong”. Will felt his body shaking in protest, like he could feel every muscle retrain itself in shame of being his, for being of a _abomination_.

  
He had been stupid, he even can say it to Mike. He passed hours deciding what to say, how to say, when to say. He was betrayed for himself, for being too coward to make a move. But in the other side was good, because he could be more ridiculous than he was now. Imagine if he said to Mike, and he said “no” to Will and Will cried in front of him? It was the minor of the damages, for real. This suicidal mission was aborted, even this hurt in every eye blink, because Will rewatched every second millesimal of his best friend's mouth melted on his new friend's.

  
Will wanted to fool himself his whole life, being close to Mike, even knowing since the first moment he'd be hurted somehow. He knew, even being in kindergarten, that there's something in Mike that he made him say yes when Mike asked if he wanted to be friends of him.it’s like he could preview how the history would end even before it had been written. And between his own tears, laid down and hugging his pillow, Will asked that he never had been friends of Mike. "I should have said no. I should have said no" was on Will's mind. Thinking of the “no” was so agonizing as thinking of the death of their friendship, but he wanted to believe that his life would be less painful if he wouldn't fall for his best friend. Mike Wheeler could enchant him since five years old, with his fluffy face and freckles in his nose and cheeks.

  
He repeated those words until he hadn't more tears to cry and the tiring catch his body. Will could feel his body breath different, his mouth not being dry anymore and his eyes not being wet. He felt his consciousness fainting and he going to the door of a dream, too much intriguing to not open and get in.

  
-

  
_Mike got out of his parents car, looking to the other kids with fear. They are too loud. He ran to his parents and hugged Ted Wheeler's legs._

  
_“Mike, relax.” Said his mother, Karen, with a sweet voice._

  
_“What if no one wants to be my friend?” asked Mike, his voice shaking._

  
_“You have to ask, champ.” smiled Ted, messing the son's hair._

  
_The parents said goodbye, leaving Mike with the other kids. Everyone was already playing in pairs or triples, yelling and making mess. Mike wouldn't like to be friends with kids that loud, he'd get headache. But there's a boy far away, too small to be the same age of Mike's, swinging alone in the swings. His feet barely touched the floor. Mike smiled when he saw him, because there's something beautiful in that lonely boy, without caring of the kids yelling, indifferent to the fact that his shoes slipped through trimmed grass._

  
_Mike took a deep breath and walked to him. There's a part of Mike that was terrified to talk to the boy, mas the other part knew that was the right thing to do. The boy noticed and stared at him, without blinking. He stopped the swinging and waited Mike to get there, in silence._

  
_“Hi, my name is Mike.” introduced himself Mike._

  
_“My name is Will.” said the boy._

  
_“Do you wanna be my friend?” Mike's voice was a mix of shame and excitement._

  
_The boy looked at him for seconds and then got up to the chair._

  
_“I don't.” said Will, and he pushed Mike to the floor, running to the others kids._

  
_Mike looked to Will, a tear showing on his face. Why he didn't want to be his friend?_

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you wanna talk to me, follow @hudsteith on twitter

 

Will was still asleep, but his alarm rang. He had to remember to turn off his alarm, he's on holidays break, after all. When he looked to it, he noticed something else: his supercomm was on his table last night. He looked in his room and wasn’t see it. Will mentally writted to find it after and he got up to go to bathroom. He was crawling, enjoying the december cold, and he wanted to spend all morning in bed, or maybe he'd go to Castle Byers, that was needing a makeover.

“Morning, sweetie.” said his mom when found him in the hallway. She looked hurry because she passed to him, giving a quick kiss in the forehead. “Don’t miss your brother's ride. See you tonight!

Will looked at her with a weird face but she didn’t see, closing the door after. 

_ Ride? What she was talking about?  _ was Will’s thought.

Will didn’t care and went to the bathroom. He pee and he's walking to his room when he saw his brother closing his bag. That day was getting more weird in Will's head, and it's barely 7 a.m.

“Will, you aren't dressed up yet?” asked Jonathan. “Let’s go, or you'll miss the first period.”

The boy was pusing back to the bathroom, getting him more confused. It's Saturday! And he hadn’t more classes in this year! What is happening? Will laughed alone when think that he created a time machine. It'd be funny and he thought to call Dustin, because they love to theorize about time traveling. Dustin wasn’t stop to talk about a movie that release next year, Back to the Future, and he already thought it'd be a blast.

Anyway, Will took his shower, got dressed and ate breakfast, like he really was going to school. Something was really odd, and he would figure it out, so he just got into the game and he'd go play. Jonathan was acting normally, what was even scary to the younger boy.

They were in the midway to the school when Jonathan said:

“Are you excited to the Snow Ball this year? I know you haven't someone to go with you, but will be fun to you and your friends...”

Ok, so now Will was going nuts. The Snow Ball was last noght, wasn’t?  _ This should be those creep dreams that you think you're awake _ , thought Will.  _ Let's see how far this will go.  _ Jonathan stopped in front of the middleschool and Will saw one of his teachers holding a journal. November 16, 1984. Almost one month before the prom, and Will got seriously worried thinking he was having a powerful dellirium. Will took a deep breath and now he was just thinking about waking up for this horrible and very realistic dream.

In the middle of the hallway school, Will saw Dustin and Lucas. They was talking about something, and even noticed Will getting close to them. There's something comforting on seeing they two that way, with no strange actions, probably just arguing aginst each other, something they did daily. Will smiled before hear them talking:

“The year are closing and we didn't talk with her” Lucas looked pissed.

“We are waiting for the right time, Lucas, remember?” said back Dustin.

“Right time for what?” asked Will, curious.

“To talk to her.”  Dustin pointed something with a head sign.

Will looked behind, and saw Max putting her books in her locker. Will looked to Dustin and Lucas, no understanding what they said. Why this dream are getting confusing again?

“You meant the right time to ask her to go to the Snow Ball?” asked Will, looking directly to Lucas, still wondering why it'd be complicated. Lucas and Max are practically a couple, in this point.

“You’re hilarious, Byers.” Smiled Dustin. “We even talked with her this whole time.”

“What?” Will asked, but he wasn’t really caring, so he gave up and thought of something more important. “Where’s Mike? He'll miss our Science class.”

“What Mike?” asked Lucas, frowning his face.

“Our friend Mike.” Will answered, but Lucas and Dustin were still doing faces, messing Will even more. “Mike Wheeler.”

Dustin and Lucas looked to each other, sharing a scared look, probably thinking that Will was saying something new, and then looked to Will, now with a worried look.

Will already saw they looking at him this way, but this was a dream. Why they had to look at him this way  _ even in his dreams? _

Lucas put his hand on Will's foreahed.

“Are you with fever, Will?” asked Lucas. “Wheeler isn’t our friend.”

“I'd say he's the oposite of everything i'd call ‘friend'.” And Dustin finished Lucas thought, and his voice blended hilarity and horror.

Before Will ask if they are getting crazy, someone pushed Will, making him fall to the floor. His bag opened and all his books dispersed in the hallway. Some people laughed. Will could reconigzed Troy's mocking and his friends, the usual bullies, and he already was used to them, but there's a unkown laugh. The impact of his body on the floor was nothing compared with the impact to know the owner of that laugh.

Will looked up and saw Mike Wheeler laughing of him, and there was a different Mike: he was wearing a white t-shirt with a jeans jacket, his hair was curly and he was chewing gum. He took off his sunglasses and throw his gum to the floor, close where Will still was. Will even realized the moment he opened his mouth, with absolut fright. This dream was, far away, the most crazy of his, and he didn’t know what to feel about this version of Mike.

“Out of my way,  _ queer _ .” said Mike, with a voice that Will never had heard. It's a depreciation tone.

And Mike walked to his class, no helping Will at all. The youngest boy couldn’t take his eyes away from Mike, following his steps. He didn’t know his eyes were too bulged, and Dustin and Lucas were watching the scene, but he didn’t care less with it like now, because he was very scared. What was that? What was really happening?

“That was the Mike Wheeler you are talking about, Will?” asked Dustin, when he and Lucas were helping Will to catch his books again.

The walk to Science room was astounding. Every moment, since he got out of the bed until now made less sense in every step Will took. The questions growing on Will's head and he couldn’t answer any of them, like they were part of a surprise test he wasn’t ready for. His brain were frozen, his head was in pain, full and empty in the same way, and he didn’t know if one day it'd be possible to it work again. Now all he asked was to he open his eyes and get back to the real world, because this dream was more far away that he could handle.

And Will didn’t believe that was  _ his _ Mike. His friend Mike never would have courage to raise his voice to him, specially after the Demogorgon incident. Will liked to believe that calmer, careful and smooth tone Mike use was only for him. He'd never use words like  _ queer _ , words he knew that hurt Will too much. This dream was becoming a nightmare, and he wasn’t believing that somewhere in his inconsciousness he believed Mike'd be that way.

Will, Dustin and Lucas sat in his usual seats and watched a great class sobre the four fundamental elements, Mr. Clarke talking about water, earth, fire and air. Will saw the excitement glowing on Dustin and Lucas' faces, and he tried to focus on class, but he couldn’t, because the hallway scene continued to repeat in his head over and over, as if he tried to see how he ended up into this error, like something was too irregular to be a mere imagination of his mind. He only heard the end of the class, when the teacher talked about a project that he needed to build something related to the four elements.

Mr. Clarke started to pick the pairs, some people muttering about the choices, even knowing the teacher wouldn’t change his choice. Lucas and Dustin got up together, of course. Will wasn’t picked yet, Mike neither. No one didnt still realize it.

“And the last one, Mike Wheeler and Will Byers.” announced Mr. Clarke.

Everyone stayed silent, compelling silence. Will looked to them, waiting to anyone to explain why they were looking to the teacher like he was crazy. The room was infested for something that no one ever was felt that before there: embarrassment.  _ He was insane? _ , was what Will read in any face of the collegues, and Will could realize that this went beyond he being pushed in a hallway; it's a level below that, the boy could feel on his pores. Mr. Clarke himself gave a weird smile to Will and got closer to the boy, saying:

“Will, if something happen, anything, inside or outside of school, I wanna know, alright?”

Will didn’t understand the reason of that, but he waved to the teacher.

The other classes passed pretty fast to Will, and zeven Dustin and Lucas asking what is happening, he only said he was with headache. He couldn’t speak anything to them, or they'd say he was crazy. Everything he needed was come home, where every unmeaning craziness started, and then he'd find a sense in this dreadful moment, because in the middle of the day, Will remembered of a thing. The most stupid idea that he could have, but he couldn’t forget there’s no more stupid ideas on his world, no after a week running away of a Demogorgon. Will could ask to Jonathan about Nancy, but he thought it's better no risk with his brother too. He was alone one more time, but he expected it wasn’t for so long.

When the alarm signed the end of the classes, Will finally had a slice of relief, and waved to Dustin and Lucas while ran the fast as he could to outside school. Finally he'd have answers. He just needed to pretend be cool to his brother and pray (something he really wouldn’t do if the moment didn’t need) that he was wrong. Will almost asked to Jonathan to go faster, but it’d be too suspicious, so he just bit his lip, holding his anxiety. When he came home, Will didn’t handle himself and ran to his room and opened his closet. He needed to give this dought nightmare away from him, but now it's bigger than all day. Will looked im every corner, but his Ghostbusters costume wasn’t there. The empty was a slap on his face.

So he believed. Your costume wasn’t there, that meant he never went to Mike, Dustin and Lucas to the Halloween with matching costumes. That’s why he hadn’t a supercomm;  who proposed  to buy it was Mike, to a better communication between them. That also meant that he, Dustin and Lucas didn’t play Dungeons & Dragons, because Mike had the game. The most absurd idea that passed through Will's mind, the idea he thought hilarious, that made him laugh in the boys bathroom, and then made him stop laugh slowly, when the not-sure started to corrode him, showed itself true, in the end.

This meant that his request was made up real. He wasn’t Mike's friend anymore, and now Mike could be his worst enemy. The shock began to run into his body, like a massive virus, getting to his blood and taking his lucidity away.

Will thought he was drowing, but he wanted to cry, more than everything. He had been so selfish! He wasn’t Mike's friend as he desired, but he took Dustin and Lucas with him, making them losing his friendship as well. This also meant he probably he never had been missed, and Hooper didn’t help his mom, Jonathan didn’t get closer to Nancy or Lucas didn’t meet Max, and Steve didn’t need to babysit the boys. All the wonderful things that happened in the party lives had gone, dragged for a swirl Will made. The world was upside down now.

What about Eleven? Dustin and Lucas didn’t talk in any moment about Eleven. Because of his egocentrism, Will didn’t let Eleven have friends. Maybe she was out there alone. She already spended months without their company, trying to protect herself and protect the boys, but even for a second he thought of that. He just thought on his selfish feeling to not suffer anymore, and maybe this could cost a girl's freedom, or worst, could cost her life. Will felt so disgust of himself, like he never did before, even when was called Zombie Boy, and he wanted to kick himself so hard. Now he felt the worst human being. He didn’t even fell worthy of the nightmare he was living.

He didn’t have anyone to talk to. There's no option because the only person who could hear this kind of nonsense and wouldn’t laugh would be Mile. He'd only listen and wave, acepting and greeting his friend, and he'd say something like “Well, if we're both going crazy, then we'll go crazy together, right?” just to try to cheer him up. He never needed his friend that much, his emphatic look and cozy hugs, making him feel he  _ belong _ to something or  _ someone _ , like no one could hurt him when he was in Mike's arms, like a holy dome.

But Will knew  _ this _ Mike in this time probably would be throwing soda cans to cats or making a fart contest with his new and horrible friends.

Yeah, Will finally made it. He didn’t crew up everyone's life who he loved in the first time, or in the second time, but in the third time he got it. And this would be the price he'd pay.


End file.
